In the past, it has been known to provide a popcorn kettle assembly having a kettle chamber adapted to receive raw corn, oil and salt, and a lid to cover the chamber during the popping operation. The kettle chamber is heated in a known manner to pop the popcorn within the chamber while the lid is secured to the chamber through fasteners to prevent the popcorn and from being released until the popping operation is completed. The lid may include a hinged portion that fully opens as the volume of popped popcorn increases within the chamber. When the popping operation is completed, the kettle assembly is dumped to release the popped popcorn for service, and the process may then be repeated.
During the popping operation, the lid must be reliably secured to the kettle chamber. If the lid should pop off, the batch of popcorn and other ingredients is wasted and, more seriously, hot oil may splatter from the heated kettle and injure those in the vicinity of the popcorn machine.
To substantially eliminate this possibility, it has been known to use fasteners, such as latches, spring clips, wing nuts and the like, to firmly secure the lid to the kettle chamber. While these and other fasteners have served their purpose of securing the lid to the kettle chamber, they have several drawbacks.
From a safety standpoint, the fasteners may loosen during the popping operation and become commingled with the popped popcorn within the kettle. If this occurrence goes unnoticed by the serving attendants, the fastener component may be served to a customer in the bag or box of popped popcorn. From a health standpoint, the fasteners generally become contaminated over time with the oil and seasonings used in the popping operation. While the kettle and lid are cleaned on a regular basis, it is possible that the fasteners may not receive the same attention or care. Additionally, the loose fasteners must be handled separately from the kettle chamber and lid, thereby adding to the time and steps required to assemble and disassemble the popping kettle assembly.
Accordingly, it is has been an objective of the present invention to provide an improved popcorn kettle assembly that reliably and safely secures the kettle lid to the kettle chamber. A further objective of the present invention has been to provide an improved popcorn kettle assembly that may be easily assembled, disassembled and cleaned.